intel-nuc6i7kyk-opencore

Important Note

I no longer maintain this repository, because I no longer have this device to test newer versions of OpenCore or macOS. I will also not be responding to support queries.

Use this repository as a guide and for understanding, but don't expect that everything will work in the future. Like all Hackintosh builds, it is recommended to understand the process of configuring your system from scratch with the Dortania guides and Reddit forums. Thanks <3

What is this?

This repository tracks an OpenCore bootloader configuration for the Intel Skull Canyon NUC.
This configuration was created by me with help from others (see credits) to allow the NUC to run macOS. If you wish to try and run macOS on your Skull Canyon, you can start here.

This is for my own personal use, and as such I haven't tried to get every single thing working.

I've tried to keep a lot of this fairly stock and without too many kexts and manual patching, as I want this to be as close as possible to a real Mac. OpenCore is great for this, hence why I use this over Clover.

Currently running: macOS Big Sur Beta

Note: This script requires a computer running macOS to run correctly, with Xcode+CLI tools installed from the App Store. Attempting to run on a non-Mac, or a Mac without Xcode may not build the configuration in the right way and will most likely not boot.

What works and what doesn't

What works:

• Booting
• Patched EC (required for Catalina and up)
• Intel WiFi (experimental, optional)
• Graphics acceleration with Metal support (credit: WhateverGreen)
  • Some customised framebuffer patching included...
  • Iris Pro 580 with DVMT pre-alloc
  • HDMI 2.0 4k enabled and working
  • Multiple display support
  • No graphical glitching
  • Iris Pro 580 login screen bug on full screen video fixed (GPU device id spoofed to Intel HD 530)
  • Display hotplugging works
• Onboard audio (Realtek ALC233)
  • Enabled with AppleALC, alcid=32, no distortion/weirdness
• Native CPU/iGPU power management
  • Skylake, iMac17,1 SMBIOS
  • Custom CPU SSDT from ssdtPRgen and CPUFriend to dynamically patch X86PlatformPlugin
  • Idles at 0.8GHz (not technically base freq of 500MHz for i7-6770HQ, but the NUC is plugged in all the time)
• Bluetooth (credit to the kext: IntelBluetoothFirmware)
• Gigabit Ethernet (credit to the kext: IntelMausiEthernet)
• NVMe
• Full USB support (credit: RehabMan and his tutorial on creating a custom USB SSDT, USBInjectAll)
• Shutdown/reboot should be working correctly (no hang on shutdown with custom SSDT)
• iCloud/App Store/iMessage functionality (with a well-formed SMBIOS, see below)
• FileVault works fully with latest OpenCore

What doesn't (yet) work:

• Proper sleep (partially fixed with a182e791) - sleeps OK, wakes to black screen but power-cycling/hotplugging a display brings it back
• Thunderbolt 3 (may fix in future with an approach similar to Hades Canyon patches?)
  • Appears to work if the Thunderbolt device is connected at boot, but any hotplugging/sleep stops it from working
• SD card reader (PCIe, unlikely to ever work)
• TOSLINK optical jack (disabled in SSDT)
• Secure Boot (OpenCore should support this, just a case of enabling)

Known quirks:

• OpenCore applies custom ACPI patches to operating systems other than macOS
  • Hence, if you dual boot Windows/Linux, it may not be stable!
  • I use the boot manager to switch, although there is a fork of OpenCore that only selectively applies ACPI patching

How to get started?

BIOS configuration

Main things that you must do here are:

• Disable Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed IO (VT-d)
  • I don't believe macOS supports this
  • You can still boot if you need VT-d turned on, just add dart=0 to boot flags
    • I'm assuming you know where that is if you're asking this question :P
• Disable Secure Boot
  • OpenCore technically supports this - I haven't found the time to setup yet
• Set IGD Minimum Memory to 64MB and IGD Aperture Size to 128/256MB

Repository setup

Note: The example config.plist includes null strings for SMBIOS values. Do not use this, it's unlikely to work correctly.

• I didn't want to make my personal SMBIOS values public (I'm signed into iCloud), but the setup script can generate a new one for you.

1. git clone https://github.com/alexpotter1/intel-nuc6i7kyk-opencore
2. cd intel-nuc6i7kyk-opencore
3. chmod +x ./setup.sh && ./setup.sh

Note: If you have an OpenCore config.plist you'd like to use, specify this with ./setup.sh -f <path-to-plist>

• This may be because you've already configured an SMBIOS
• The example config does not include an SMBIOS
  • Best to make your own one, the setup scripts do this for you! (credit: GenSMBIOS by CorpNewt)

If you're generating an SMBIOS

• Follow the steps with GenSMBIOS
• Install macserial first if you haven't (press 1?)
• Tell the script where the default config.plist is (EFI/OC/config.plist)
• Generate an SMBIOS (use iMac17,1, important!)
• Generate a UUID
• Quit

4. The script should download new versions of the kexts used into EFI/OC/Kexts

• I didn't include them in the repo as they get outdated fast, best to get latest versions

5. Run chmod +x ./export.sh && sudo ./export.sh to copy the EFI to your EFI System Partition (as root)

• To do this, you need to know where your EFI partition is - make sure you get the right one to avoid data loss!
• diskutil list, find the right disk
• Then tell the script which partition is your EFI partition
  • If you're creating a USB, make sure you use the USB's EFI partition (e.g. disk4s1)
  • If you're installing to the current hard drive's EFI partition (caution!), use disk0s1

If you want WiFi

When performing setup, the script will ask you if you want to enable Intel WiFi support (disabled by default). Type 'y' to enable.

After macOS installation, to get the companion app 'HeliPort' working:

1. Mount your EFI with sudo diskutil mount /dev/disk0s1
2. Go to /Volumes/EFI/EFI/OC (your root OpenCore folder)
3. Copy HeliPort.app to /Applications
4. Open the app. It should be in your menu bar. Enable Launch at Login is recommended.

Full credit to this goes to zxystd/OpenIntelWireless for this work.
Note: I will not provide support for this kext, it is provided as-is and should not be considered production-ready. Contact the developer for support.

Credits

Some people who were invaluable in helping me get setup, whether through informative forum posts, kexts, or custom ACPI SSDTs:

• RehabMan - his comprehensive thread for Mojave and the NUC6i7KYK on tonymacx86.com
• acidanthera - for OpenCore, WhateverGreen, Lilu, AppleALC, NVMeFix, VirtualSMC, probably more
• This OpenCore Vanilla guide - Skylake
• zxystd for his awesome Intel Bluetooth firmware/Intel WiFi kexts
• Mieze for the amazing Intel Ethernet kext, without this, the NUC is kinda useless
• CorpNewt for the very nice GenSMBIOS tool, and Lilu-and-Friends used to help get kexts
• Piker-Alpha for ssdtPRgen.sh to create a custom SSDT for power management
• Probably many more talented hackintosh community members who I've missed when researching for hours and hours
  • Please let me know if I didn't include you - absences are completely accidental, promise :P